The Myth of the Lazy Bumiputera: Images of Malays, Filipinos, and Javanese from the 16th to the 20th Century and Their Function in Colonial Capitalist Ideology

Not working hard means being lazy?
Are the lazy ones the indigenous people who refuse to succumb to colonial capitalism, or the Western colonial invaders who sit back and enjoy the benefits?

The Myth of the Lazy Natives is a classic social science work by the late Malaysian sociologist and thinker Syed Hussein Alatas on decolonial Southeast Asian studies and inter-Asian studies. The book explores the Western colonialist ideological construction of the indigenous people as lazy people from the 16th to the 20th century. Drawing on the work of Karl Mannheim and the sociology of knowledge, Alatas analyzes how Western colonialists constructed images of the indigenous people and how these myths reinforced colonial ideology and the logic of capitalism.

This classic work, published in 1977, aims to deconstruct and disenchant the "myth of the lazy Bumiputera," standing as an early example of a systematic critique of colonial/Eurocentric knowledge. In Alatas's own words, the book's mission is to "correct the colonial perspectives unilaterally imposed on indigenous Asians and their societies... For Malaysia, this is more than just a historical exercise: the colonial image of Malays urgently needs to be corrected, as it still holds a strong influence among some influential non-Malays and even among some Malay intellectuals. As long as this image persists, it undermines efforts at national integration. It also leads to a degree of discrimination against Malays in employment: some employers avoid hiring Malays because they believe they are lazy. Many also believe that Malays are inherently unsuitable for business. All of these perceptions stem from colonial-era images of Malays."

This book explores the Malay Peninsula, the Philippines, and Indonesia, transcending the boundaries and barriers of modern nation-states to consider the rich diversity of cultures, ideas, and traditions shared by the nusantara archipelago and how these cultures were distorted by the invasion of Western colonizers. As a classic work that "decolonizes the mind," this book holds profound emancipatory significance, historically reviewing and critiquing the origins and development of colonialism and examining the causes and consequences of colonial rule.

Syed Hussein Alatas

The late Malaysian sociologist and thinker. He served as founding professor of Malay Studies at the University of Singapore, vice-chancellor of the University of Malaya, and chief research fellow at the National University of Malaysia. He was also the founding chairman of the Malaysian multi-ethnic political party, the Malaysian Malaysian Association. He has long been interested in issues such as colonialism, the sociology of corruption, Islamic thought, and the state of knowledge in developing countries. He has written numerous books, including The Sociology of Corruption (1968), Modernization and Social Change in Southeast Asia (1972), Islam and Socialism (1976), The Myth of the Lazy Natives (1977), The Intellectuals in Developing Societies (1977), and The Problem of Corruption (1986).

Tan Yau Chong

A native of Penang, Malaysia, he holds a master's degree in English from National Taiwan Normal University. He has been a full-time translator, proofreader, and editor since 2000, and has also served as a part-time translation lecturer at a university. His translations primarily focus on books and essays on literature and history, as well as novels and poetry.

Preface to the Chinese Translation | The Myth of the Lazy Natives in the Context of Sayhussein Alatas's Thought / Introduction by Sayfarid Alatas | The Contemporary Significance of The Myth of the Lazy Natives / Li Youcheng

Introduction Chapter 1 | The Image of the Malay before Raffles Chapter 2 | The British Image of the Malay in the Late 19th and 20th Centuries Chapter 3 | The Image of the Filipino from the 17th to the 19th Centuries Chapter 4 | The Image of the Javanese from the 18th to the 20th Centuries Chapter 5 | The Image of Laziness and Its Corresponding Reality Chapter 6 | Colonial Capitalism and Its Attitude towards Labor in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries Chapter 7 | Filipino Laziness Chapter 8 | Colonial Imagery and the Study of Nationality Chapter 9 | Malay Concepts of Hard Work and Laziness Chapter 10 | The “Spiritual Revolution” and Malay Laziness Chapter 11 | The Distortion of Malay Nationality Chapter 12 | The Disappearance of the Indigenous Merchant Class Conclusion Bibliography Abbreviations Index

Proofreading Notes | The Malay World as Thought / Su Yingxin